Introduction
Sony's tight flagship release schedule went in overdrive this season with the Z3+, Z4v and the Z5 all right on each other's heels. Making no attempt to slow down, the Japanese are taking that spirit to the midrange as well. What are you waiting for? Upgrade.
Now, assuming that you did what any sane person would do and skipped the so-called flagship Z3+, what about people who got an M4 Aqua and were preparing to enjoy a pretty solid package for at least a year? Shall we all sympathize or is the Sony Xperia M5 a whole different kind of phone?
Sony would at least like you to believe so by getting rid of the Aqua moniker. Understanding how it can cause plenty of confusion, let's get it straight. The Xperia M5 has the very same IP68 certification for dust resistance and water proofing, letting it withstand submersion in up to 1.5 meters of water for up to half an hour.
Another thing the M4 and M5 have in common is the wide range of modifications: each has a Dual SIM variant, the one we're actually reviewing, as well as plenty of regional editions that mostly differ in terms of LTE band compatibility. And as long as we're on the subject, it is quite important to note that the M5 will have limited availability as it gets released, meaning that at least initially, it won't get in the way of the M4 Aqua in any way.
The overall shape, size and look are virtually the same, both built around a 5.0-inch screen. Yet, despite the visual similarities, the M5 is an all-round upgrade: screen resolution is bumped up to FullHD, RAM is 3GB and both cameras have about doubled the resolution: 21.5MP on the back and an impressive 13MP unit up front. But perhaps the biggest change of all is the chipset, which no longer comes from Qualcomm's factories.
Key features
- Optional Dual SIM support (Xperia M5 Dual)
- 5.0" 16M-color 1080 x 1920 IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with Mobile BRAVIA Engine 2
- Android OS v5.0 Lollipop
- Octa-core 2.0GHz Cortex-A53; Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10, PowerVR G6200, 3GB RAM
- 21.5MP camera with 2160p@30fps video; 13MP front-facing camera with 1080p @30fps video
- 16GB of built-in storage and a microSD card slot
- LTE Cat.4 (150Mbps); Dual-band Wi-Fi a/b/g/n; A-GPS/GLONASS receiver, Bluetooth v4.1, FM radio with RDS
- Active noise cancellation with a dedicated mic
- 2,600mAh non-removable battery
- IP68 certified - dust and water proof up to 1.5 meter and 30 minutes
Main disadvantages
- Non-removable battery
- No Wi-Fi a/c
It's not the first time that Sony is partnering with MediaTek, Taiwanese silicon powering quite a few Xperias in the C series and the entry-level E-series. This time around though, it's the top-of-the-line Helio X10 - a step up from the Snapdragon 615 inside the Xperia M4 Aqua.
The powerful eight cores, each running at 2.0GHz and the PowerVR G6200 GPU, put the M5 in a different league. The spec sheet is taking a stab at flagship performance, all while trying to stay within a midrange budget. Well, upper-midrange at most.
The M5 currently costs a good $100 more than the M4 Aqua, at a little over $400, but it looks like the upgrades it offers are worth the extra cash. The Xperia M5 has a potent CPU / GPU combo, an impressive camera setup, plenty of RAM for multitasking and a crisp 5.0 inch FullHD display.
Sony Xperia M5 in official photos
Design-wise, the phone is almost identical to the M4 Aqua with only a few details giving it away. The M5 is actually executed following Sony's old "Omni-Balance" design, cautiously revised by the Z5 line but by no means completely redone. Anyway, if you are still into the classic Xperia look, the M5 will not disappoint.
Follow us to the next page for some close-ups. Then we'll see the Sony Xperia M5 in real action.
Design and build quality
The Sony Xperia M5 is an imposing five-incher but the general impression is toned down by the clean lines of the classic Sony design and the reasonably slim profile.
There's little to set the Xperia M5 apart from the M4 Aqua, which in turn is quite reminiscent of the ex-flagship Xperia Z3. Even the dimensions are almost identical: 145 x 72 x 7.6mm for the M5, as opposed to 145.5 x 72.6 x 7.3mm for the M4 Aqua.
Few thigs differ from the M4 Aqua
So, the M5 is a tiny bit smaller, but slightly thicker and heavier, weighing in at 142.5 grams. The new camera setup surely accounts for some of the extra heft.
The M5 has the same overall appearance, as its predecessor, down to every corner and groove of the device. Build quality seems to be comparable as well. Everything on the M5 Aqua is nicely put together and fits tightly, it's an IP68-certified device after all.
Expensive finish like glass and metal reserved for the high-rolling Z series, the Xperia M5 has been treated to plastic but still manages a stylish appearance. The back cover also seems to be sturdier this time around - there is almost no give when pushed, which we noticed on the M4 Aqua.
The Xperia M5 in the hand
Sony has really got the most out of the available materials. The body feels nice to the touch and the finish does not look cheap in any way. The M5 comes in two classic colors and, just like the M4 Aqua, has a flashier third option - in this case bright gold. This is exactly the unit we have and the gold paintjob is a touch too much bling to our taste.
Controls
The M5 is undoubtedly based on the M4 Aqua, but a few notable changes in the hardware and control layout were inevitable. The phone is equipped with a 5.0-inch IPS display, just like its sibling, but now with a seriously improved resolution of 1080p. That makes for a respectable 441ppi, up from 294ppi on the M4. Bezels have been slightly slimmed down compared to the M4 Aqua but, with a screen to body ratio of 66%, the M5 still has a little too much of those.
Above the screen, the front camera has kept its place to the right of the Sony logo but the lens is noticeably bigger - no surprise, considering it's now 13MP instead of 5MP. The phone does not feature any physical buttons at the front, so the area below the display is mostly empty, except for the mouthpiece, which mirrors the earpiece.
The front of the device is clean
Going around the device, we find the left side now somewhat less cluttered. The microUSB port which resided there on the M4 Aqua is now moved back to the bottom of the handset, where it simply feels more natural. The only thing left on the left is a flap covering the card slots. Depending on the version you get, the upper compartments fits one or two Nano-SIM cards. The lower tray is for a microSD card, with a theoretical cap of 200GB.
The left side of the M5 is mostly empty
The right-hand side is a little bit more crowded, but still better than the M4 Aqua. Moving the SIM slots on the left has freed up some extra space for the signature round Power/Lock button, conveniently placed slightly above the middle of the device and, below it, a slim volume rocker. Near the bottom, there is a very thin and almost unnoticeable shutter button. It makes taking photos all that more-convenient, especially underwater where the capacitive touchscreen would be of little use.
The right hand side has a lot going on
The 3.5mm headphone jack is placed on the top of the device, in the right corner. Next to it is the secondary noise-canceling microphone.
The top features the 3.5mm headphone jack and noise-canceling mic.
The bottom of the Xperia M5 houses a speaker on the left and the microUSB port. Just like on the M4 Aqua, the USB is exposed, no flap to undo to charge or connect the M5. Sony has applied some additional waterproof coating to the microUSB port, making it is just as waterproof as its old solution.
The bottom side holds a speaker and the microUSB port
Around the back, the plastic finish looks quite like glass and is equally prone to smudging. It only features the new 21.5MP main camera and a single LED flash.
Other than that, there is both Sony and Xperia branding near the bottom and a tiny NFC logo. Actually, the only real difference between the back of the M4 Aqua and the M5 is in the position of the flash, but you really have to know what to look for.
A clean back side
Display
The Sony Xperia M5 is equipped with an IPS LCD panel with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels and the in-house Triluminos and Bravia tech to enhance colors and contrast by clever processing.
The Sony Xperia M5's IPS LCD has an RGB matrix and, although it doesn't look all that impressive on paper, our test revealed that it is a pretty decent panel, albeit not particularly bright. Viewing angles are superb, with almost no washout and only a slight loss of brightness.
The maximum display brightness is quite good (520nits), but interestingly, it's only achievable in manual brightness mode. The Auto mode can only deliver a brightness of up to 470nits or so. The achieved contrast ratio of 839:1 is not bad at all, but is far from stellar - probably hurt to an extent by the fairly bright blacks.
| Display test | 50% brightness | 100% brightness | ||||
| Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | Black, cd/m2 | White, cd/m2 | |||
| 0.08 | 110 | 1392 | 0.63 | 527 | 839 | |
| 0.17 | 176 | 1012 | 0.74 | 828 | 1115 | |
| - | - | - | 0.77 | 725 | 942 | |
| 0.00 | 274 | ∞ | 0.00 | 529 | ∞ | |
| 0.00 | 228 | ∞ | 0.00 | 456 | ∞ | |
| 0.14 | 109 | 763 | 0.72 | 570 | 789 | |
| 0.11 | 149 | 1428 | 0.37 | 530 | 1428 | |
| 0.00 | 175 | ∞ | 0.00 | 349 | ∞ | |
| 0.17 | 162 | 953 | 0.492 | 467.00 | 953 | |
| 0.00 | 117 | ∞ | 0 | 346.00 | ∞ | |
| 0.20 | 245 | 1219 | 0.46 | 577 | 1256 | |
| 0.13 | 107 | 796 | 0.44 | 390 | 879 | |
| 0.31 | 298 | 948 | 0.54 | 526 | 967 | |
| 0.17 | 164 | 940 | 0.73 | 679 | 929 | |
Sunlight legibility is about average and it undoubtedly suffers from the lower contrast at full brightness. Still, it is slightly better than the M4 Aqua, but during our test, we did find it to be difficult to read outside.
Sunlight contrast ratio
Color rendering without image enhancements is fairly accurate (Avg deltaE 5.8 for the primary colors plus black and white), with the reds being the worse (deltaE 11.6). Color accuracy of course takes a hit as soon as you turn on any of the image enhancements.
The Mobile BRAVIA mode is not that bad at all, but as expected, the Vivid mode produces quite unrealistic colors and contrast.
As usual, display colors are a matter of personal taste and perception so if you don't need calibrated color output, you will probably be quite happy with the default settings of the Xperia M5 display.
You can fine tune the display color rendering to an extent as it gives you fine grain sliders for adjusting the Red, Green and Blue channel, but the UI is far from user friendly and unlikely to produce any serious results without a reference point sitting side by side with the display. Even worse, as soon as you start fiddling with those sliders, the maximum brightness goes down to about what you get in Auto Brightness mode.
M5 battery life
Sony has a 2,600mAh battery inside the Xperia M5, which is some 200mAh more than the M4 Aqua, but the extra capacity may not be enough for the more powerful Helio X10 chip and the higher res screen. That said, a comparison would definitely be interesting between the M5 and the Snapdragon 615-powered M4 Aqua.
We ran our battery test with the battery-saving STAMINA mode off. That, of course, is for the sake of objectivity, but half way into the review we really started missing the extra battery saving help, as the M5 seemed to eat through electricity like crazy.
Hopefully, it is an isolated issue, brought about by the early OS out unit is running. We are willing to point a finger at the new chipset and display combo, to some extent, at least. The truth is that the OS definitely contributes a lot to the poor battery life - an issue Sony will hopefully address in the first final firmware.
The battery pack itself is not user-removable, which is where the industry has been heading for some time now. At least, the M5 has a better reason than most for keeping a tight seal on the back.
To get the most of your battery, the Power Saver is now part of the settings menu. It helps you extend your battery life by toggling things like Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth screen brightness, auto sync and background data on and off automatically, as soon as the battery charge falls below a certain user-defined threshold. You can also choose to automatically turn Wi-Fi off if there is no known Wi-Fi network in range or switch off mobile data when the screen is off, and more.
Our battery testing procedure is described in detail in case you want to learn more about it.
Anyway, the battery test results we got just seemed way out of check, so we promise to retest the battery once a final firmware appears.
Connectivity
The Sony Xperia M5 comes in single and dual SIM flavors. Both the M5 and the M5 Dual offer quad-band GSM/GPRS/EDGE/HSDPA support, with the small exception of the single-SIM E5606 model, which supports five bands. LTE is enabled and Sony has multiple regional models to make sure the Xperia M5 will work with the most widespread 4G networks.
Local connectivity features dual-band Wi-Fi b/g/n and Wi-Fi Direct. There is also support for Bluetooth 4.1 with A2DP. Satellite navigation is also a given, with additional A-GPS and GLONASS support. The Xperia M5 also has an FM radio with RDS. It doesn't offer an IR port, but it does come with NFC.
There is a microUSB 2.0 port for charging and data connections and now, thanks to special coating, it is no longer covered by a flap. Media transfer mode is supported for accessing the phone's built-in memory and microSD card over the USB cable. USB host functionality is slightly problematic. By all accounts it seems the M5 should support it, especially considering the M4 Aqua does and there are quite a few settings for it. However, we didn't manage to get it working on out test unit and it could just be due to the fact that it isn't quite final yet.
The microUSB port doesn't have any wired TV-out, but if you own a compatible HDTV, you can output your phone's screen wirelessly via the Miracast protocol or Sony's Xperia Connectivity Throw option.
The app also lets you share your media over DLNA by creating a media server, as well as connect to a PlayStation DUALSHOCK 3 (or 4) wireless controller.
Android Lollipop with a pinch of Xperia
After a slightly hesitant transition into Android Lollipop, Sony is now fairly comfortable with the new platform and is spreading it across as many devices possible. We are happy to report that the M5 comes with Android 5.0 right out-of-the-box.
As far as the launcher goes, Sony has gone to great lengths to preserve its signature look and feel. If you are transitioning from a KitKat Xperia, you will instantly feel that almost everything is right where you remember, just with a fresher material-design look.
This even extends to the bundled applications. Most of them are also practically untouched as far as navigation and UX goes, but now employ all the extra visual eye-candy of Android Lollipop. This kind of transition really takes effort and is definitely worth noting.
The lockscreen has undergone some changes with Android 5.0. There are no more lockscreen widgets available, apart, of course, from a selection of clocks.
The multiple panes have been removed as well. There are still quick shortcuts to launch the dialer and camera, which are now at the bottom left and right corners, respectively.
Naturally, you can protect your lockscreen by Face, Pattern, PIN or Password unlock, in ascending order of security.
Xperia lockscreen, lacking widgets
There are five homescreen panels by default and you can set any of them as your primary one. You can't have more than seven panes at any given time though, nor can you change the order they're in.
Homescreens and widgets
You can set various live and static wallpapers, add widgets and shortcut, or change the UI theme. You can also choose which icons will be visible on the status bar, and which should remain hidden.
Customization • Themes
The notification area uses the standard Lollipop-style pull-down effect with multiple levels. Quick settings are on the top and notifications on the bottom. The aforementioned can be accessed by swiping from the top twice, but Sony has also preserved its two-finger swipe gesture, which extends the full shade in one stroke.
The toggles are customizable and you can choose between a total of 13 and have up to 9 of them visible. Their order can be adjusted manually, or you can leave that to Lollipop, which will automatically rearrange them according to frequency of use.
Notification area • Quick settings
The app drawer is laid out across multiple pages and you can sort the apps in various ways. The settings for that are accessible via a swipe from the left edge of the screen and you can also search and even uninstall apps from there, as well as download new ones.
App Drawer
The Xperia M5 uses the stock Android task manager that lets you switch between the recently opened apps, as well as terminate any of them with a side-swipe.
The so-called "small apps" are also available in the Xperia M5 and are accessible via the task manager. They are similar to Samsung's Mini Apps, and pop up tiny widget-like applications on your homescreen, which you can move around and use without having to open the full-fledged app.
The list of small apps really tends to differ from one Sony to another for some reason and on our unit we found a default set of eight of those available: Active Clip, Browser, Calculator, Calendar, Timer, Touch Block, Bookmarks and Gmail. The latter two seem to come courtesy of the Chrome and Gmail apps presumably through implementing some special interface, but oddly enough they don't appear on all Xperia's with the corresponding apps installed.
You can launch only one instance of a Small App, but you can open multiple Small Apps simultaneously.
Sadly, you can't disable the small apps entirely and will always have them cramming your recent apps whether you use them or not.
Task switcher • Small apps
Finally, Google Now integrates with your Google account and can access your daily routine, internet searches, email, etc. and give you information relevant to your interests and daily needs.
Google Now
Sony has finally come to its senses and has ditched the 8GB storage option that was available for the M4 Aqua. With the M5 you get a lot more usable 16GB, but considering a lot of apps still refuse to install on external storage, you better get a card to unload your media to, just in case. Plus, an 8GB or even 16GB one is now in the sub $10 range.
Benchmarks
Sony's "M" series has traditionally been the definitive mid-range tier in the company's lineup. As such, the endeavor has always been to deliver premium design and style, coupled with slightly toned-down hardware and materials to keep costs low. With the M5, however, things look slightly different. The intention is practically the same, but with the introduction of more and more powerful silicon at affordable prices, Sony has managed to really pack some serious computing power inside the M5 without seriously affecting its price. The chip in question is the Mediatek MT6795 Helio X10, which packs a total of eight Cortex-A53 cores, all clocked at 2.0 GHz and is definitely unfamiliar ground for Sony, which has generally stuck with Qualcomm hardware.
This is exactly what we mean when describing the M5 as a toned-down flagship, as the Helio X10 does offer roughly about 30% more CPU speed than the Snapdragon 615 inside the M4 Aqua, as well as twice the number of CPU threads (eight instead of four) and faster RAM and eMMC speeds. Even Qualcomm's legendary big.LITTLE load balancing technology doesn't outshine the MediaTek's chip, which has an arguably more-advanced, albeit definitely less known version of the technology - called HMP.
This difference is less clear-cut when looking at the respective GPU's inside the Snapdragon 615 and the MediaTek Helio X10. The PowerVR G6200 inside the M5, arguably has more row horsepower, but the Adreno 405 inside the M4 Aqua is newer and supports more recent technologies. Neither is really a powerhouse for graphics performance, but then again, you rarely need anything more for casual gaming on Android. Still, the M5 should shine above its predecessor in this department as well, at least as far as benchmarks are concerned.
Overall, with a better chipset and 3GB of RAM the Xperia M5 offers a substantial hardware upgrade over the M4 Aqua, the real question is whether it can put the extra number-crunching power to good use. Let's dive into the benchmarks, but first a few words about the competition.
Finding suitable devices to test how well the Helio X10 was implemented wasn't exactly an easy task. The SoC is still not particularly wide-spread. However, the Meizu MX5 appears to be a prime candidate with the exact same silico, 3GB of RAM and pretty much the same display. Interestingly enough, it also costs around what the M5 goes for, so they are textbook rivals.
The Xiaomi Redmi Note 2 offers another implementation of the same chip with the same display resolution and slightly less RAM at 2GB, so, naturally, we threw it into the mix as well. As a major side note, the Redmi Note 2 Is currently shattering sales records in China and rightfully so, as I does cost about $160 there, which is a ridiculously good deal, but more on that in the conclusion.
First up, we have the raw CPU performance test with GeekBench 3 and this is where the eight 2.0 GHz Cortex-A53 cores really get to shine. If it is raw performance you are after then the Helio X10 definitely doesn't disappoint and the M5 gets a good 1000 points on top of the M4 Aqua.
Still, there is an interesting observation to be made and it sets the tone for a trend that persists throughout the benchmarks - we can clearly see that the Helio X10 inside the Xperia is definitely powerful, but also capable of quite more. This is evident by both the Meizu MX5 and the Xiaomi Redmi Note 2, both of which have managed to squeeze a lot more power out of the chip.
Sony's implementation of the MediaTek hardware doesn't really seem that optimal and this is understandable to some extent, considering this is unfamiliar ground. It could also be a software optimization issues that will be cleared up, at least to some extent, with future software releases. However, currently these are the numbers we have and we'll just leave the issue at that.
GeekBench 3
Higher is better
AnTuTu is a compound benchmark, which also takes into account RAM and GPU performance. The Xperia M5 has definitely managed to outshine its sibling and the Galaxy A7, both powered by the Snapdragon 615, but as far as the rest of the competition goes, we are looking at some less than stellar results again. Hopefully, this will change with future OS updates, as the potential is clearly there, judging by how the MX5 and Redmi Note 2 are scoring.
AnTuTu 5
Higher is better
Basemark OS II is another all-round benchmark. It gives an overall score along with single, multi-core performance, math performance and more. Our M5 unit had quite a hard time running the app properly. It kept crashing and restarting and the end result, once we finally managed to get one, was unreasonably low. Naturally, we won't be taking it into account in any way, but we will point out that stability seems to be an issues with the current build we are running and some apps did experience "hiccups".
Moving on to pure graphics tests, which, as previously mentioned, offer quite an interesting race between the older, but more-powerful PowerVR G6200 inside the M5 and the technologically fresher Adreno 405 of the M4 Aqua. Bear in mind that since the M4 Aqua has a 720p, unlike the FullHD screen of the M5, only the offscreen tests could be a basis for judging how much Sony has improved graphic performance in one generation time.
The result is pretty conclusive - the M5 outshines its predecessor in power, but on the other hand, thanks to its lower resolution, the M4 Aqua does, in fact, offer better frame rates, which is arguably a lot more-important in a real-life scenario of playing an actual game.
Otherwise, as far as graphics are concerned, the M5 is pretty up to par with Meizu and Xiaomi, sharing the same chipset, so not much more can be squeezed out of the chip in this respect.
GFX 2.7 T-Rex (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 2.7 T-Rex (onscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 3.0 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
On a positive note, the M5 does support OpenGL ES 3.1, but the low frame rates render it all but unusable.
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (1080p offscreen)
Higher is better
GFX 3.1 Manhattan (onscreen)
Higher is better
The Xperia M5 really failed to impress in terms of browser performance. Chrome is bundled as a default browser, so one would expect at least a decent level of performance and yet, the app didn't seem to run smoothly at all. Perhaps it's more of the same software issues.
The M5 did manage to best its predecessor in BrowserMark, although barely, but on the other hand showed ridiculously low JavaScript performance. We are reluctant to point a finger at Chrome, which has proven itself time and time again, which only means that Sony really has some more work to do.
Kraken 1.1
Lower is better
BrowserMark 2.1
Higher is better
Overall, at this stage of development, the Xperia M5 is quite an "underachiever". The specs sheet definitely shows a great amount of effort from Sony to really boost the "M" series in terms of performance, but the software fails to deliver on that big promise.
In all fairness, such problems are to be expected with our pre-production review unit, but we still feel sad for all the unutilized potential of the M5 when looking at what Xiaomi and Meizu have managed to do with the same hardware platform. Hopefully Sony will mend the situation as soon as possible and unleash the M5's true potential.
Capable 21.5MP camera
The camera is another department where Sony has made some major strides forward with the M5, at least on paper that is. The M5's front-facing shooter is now capable of delivering the same 13MP resolution as the main camera of the M4 Aqua and although quality isn't nearly as impressive - it is a pretty high-def selfie shooter.
The main camera on the M5 is now a whopping 21.5MP. You don't usually see halves of a megapixel in a mobile shooter, well not in the official specs sheets at least, but is seems the closest Sony felt comfortable rounding up to was this.
It is quite an impressive camera, equipped with phase detection autofocus and capable of delivering resolutions of up to 5312 x 3984 pixels in 4:3 (21.1MP) and 5334 x 3008 pixels in 16:9 (16MP). The wider horizontal resolution in 16:9 aspect ratio mean the sensor is actually bigger than what we see in 4:3 aspect, but that still doesn't work out to 21,5MP, but rather 21.25MP. Anyway, we're sure Sony knows its way around its own sensors so let's leave it at that.
The impressive hardware, in combination with the capable MediaTek Helio X10 chip makes it possible to shoot UHD 2160p videos at 30fps with the main camera and up to 1080p@30fps with the front-facing one.
The phone has a dedicated two-stage shutter button, which makes precise focus a whole lot easier. It is a shame that there is no dual-tone flash, but just a plain single LED one.
The camera viewfinder is the usual affair, nothing has changed on Android Lollipop. In Superior Auto mode stills and videos share it and you can snap a photo or shoot a video without changing modes beforehand. While this is convenient, framing your videos correctly is nearly impossible as they have a different field of view and you only get to see the actual framing only once you've started recording.
In Manual mode you can switch between stills and video capture so that you can see the framing of your images and videos correctly (each with its own field of view) before you've pressed the shutter.
Camera UI and camera modes
In Manual mode you also get access to "manual controls" on the viewfinder, which sounds more impressive than it really is. There's an exposure compensation slider and a white balance selector. You can also control the ISO, metering and focus modes, turn on/off image stabilization, but those are buried in the settings menu.
Camera UI - manual mode
You do, however, get a dedicated video mode, with a proper viewfinder with manual control, which is nice to have.
Dedicated video capture mode
The Superior Auto shooting mode is what we've already seen in other Xperia phones. There are no settings you can change, everything here is done automagically.
Manual and Superior Auto aside, the Xperia M5 offers several other interesting shooting modes.
There's Sweep panorama but, it's not really all that great. Stitching is not horrible, but till clearly visible.
Panorama samples in both orientations
Then, there are the Augmented Reality effects, which stamp one of several virtual worlds over your scene and you can even move around in this world thanks to some intriguing motion tracking effect (note that it needs real-life visual cues in the scene to track your motion). Children will love this mode, but us bitter adults are unimpressed.
Other modes include the regular Picture effect mode, which creates a 3 x 3 grid that shows all the available effects in real time.
Image quality
As already mentioned, Sony's new camera of choice for the M5 marks a huge step forward compared to the 13MP unit on the M4 Aqua. The camera on the M5 looks mightily impressive, at least on paper that is.
However, despite all the success Sony's been enjoying with developing and selling camera sensors to almost everybody in the smartphone business, the Japanese tech giant own products are far from perfect. The M5 is still plagued by the typical for Sony non-even edge-to-edge sharpness. This means that the image sharpness is not even across the frame and only the central part of the image is tack sharp.
On the other hand, colors are great and so is contrast and dynamic range. The M5 also offers nice detail definition and even great pixel level processing. But, that can only go so far in balancing the blurriness along the edges of each shot.
Also as soon as it gets darker, or even when part of the scene turns out to be in the shadows, the digital noise in those regions spikes up and the noise suppression clearly squashes a lot of the fine detail.
Here are some camera samples form the 21MP camera:
Sony Xperia M5 camera samples
On a more positive note, however, the new faster hardware seems to have cured the sluggishness of past "M" models. The camera is now nice and responsive and Sony's legendary Superior Auto mode seems to have gotten better as well. It still has its hiccups and can sometimes toggle to an odd shooting mode, but it generally manages to produce far better photos than a zero-confing manual approach. Here are some samples taken with Superior Auto on and off.
Superior Auto • Manual • Superior Auto • Manual • Superior Auto • Manual
While Superior Auto would occasionally activate the HDR mode, if you really want to force it, you'd have to go to Manual mode and select Backlight Correction (HDR) from the Scenes menu.
Here are a few HDR samples:
HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on • HDR off • HDR on
Last, but not least, we also tested out the 13MP front-facing camera. Photos came out with nice colors and a lot of detail, as one would expect. Here are a couple of samples at slightly different lighting.
Sony Xperia M5 13MP front camera samples
Still camera comparison
We uploaded the full resolution (21.5MP) photos to our photo quality comparison database to compare against other high-resolution smartphones.
Sony Xperia M5 in our photo compare tool
4K video recording
If we have to point out one reason why the M5 offers a hugely improved camera experience, it would definitely be video recording. The MediaTek Helio X10 has the muscle and the 21MP camera has more than enough pixels, which added together equal a splendid 4K video experience.
The camcorder shares the same UI as the still camera, unless you go into manual mode. In manual mode you can set a timer and fiddle with settings like exposure, metering, focus mode, etc.
More shots from the dedicated video capture UI
For videos the Xperia M5 features digital image stabilization - SteadyShot, but there's a price to pay - the field of view (FoV) is reduced (it's how all digital stabilization systems work). Also, it takes a huge toll on the quality. The phone is smart enough to detect whether you are shooting hand-held or you have rested it on something stable but you get the reduced FoV either way if the option is turned on.
If you go into video mode from the Manual shooting mode, you get an HDR option, as well as various preset scenes to pick from.
The M5 shoots truly gorgeous 4K videos with a resolution of 3840 x 2176 pixels and a steady framerate of 30 fps. The bitrate is also quite impressive at 54 to 55 Mbps, coupled with a 48 kHz audio sampling rate. Resolve detail is really impressive. Overall, the M5 offers 4K video fit for a flagship.
Rather surprisingly, autofocus was pretty laid back unlike most other Xperia phones we have reviewed and hardly hunted for focus while video recording. Setting the autofocus to a single focus per video remedies the issue entirely.
Naturally, the M5 can also do 1080p videos as well and does a pretty impressive job of it. Furthermore, there is even a 60fps option that also produces impressive results, smoothing out the motion. Below is a 1080p sample at 30fps you can check out.
Sadly, YouTube has issues with the H.265 video codec used for the 4K and the 1080p@60fps videos, so we couldn';t upload those there. You can still download short camera samples further down below.
And here are the untouched video samples:
1080p@30fps (10s, 20MB) 1080p@60fps (10s, 35MB) 4K@30fps (10s, 54MB)
Video camera comparison
The Sony Xperia M5 captures gorgeous 4K videos. It managed to resolve a lot of detail in our resolution chart test and under good light conditions, but there is lots of noise and artefacts when shooting in low-light rooms.
Sony Xperia M5 in our video compare tool
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